Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate three different models of how to organise services to tenants in municipal housing companies.
Design/methodology/approach – The empirical data used in this study are gathered from a detailed two-year case study.
Findings – Three different functions are identified: customer service (e.g. reporting of faults); the letting process; and caretaking (day-to-day activities and control over in- and outdoor areas). The three models for local administration differ as to which functions are decentralised to a local group and which are centralised, and are evaluated from several different perspectives. The models where more decisions are decentralised leads to better information about the local conditions, makes it easier to coordinate work in an area, creates more motivation for the staff and makes it easier to involve the tenants. The main problem with the decentralised models is moral hazard problems, e.g. that the local team create their own agenda, are pressured by certain tenants to give them advantages and that the result is lack of control and an inconsistent policy in the company.
Research limitation/implications – The primary issue of the study is how housing companies can organise their resources in order to create an efficient local administration in large housing estates. Further research is needed to decide if the economic profitability differs between different organizational models in relation to tenants' perceived service quality.
Originality/value – The research identifies and analyses different organisation models for local administration in large housing estates more thoroughly than earlier research.